What clubs need and what they get are often very, very different.
The Stoke to West Ham list might not sound like the most luxurious place in the world but it includes three clubs in last season’s top nine, a West Ham team who were actually, really, genuinely talking about the Champions League at one stage and seven teams who really must decide on what path they’re going.
Stoke City
What they have
Solidity. Not just in the stereotypical Stoke sense, but the whole way through the team. Stoke already had a bunch of grand players and the additions of Ibrahim Afellay, Joselu and Phillipp Wollscheid all seem like decent signings.
What they need
They need a match-winner. Mame Biram Diouf had a decent first season at the Britannia and he’ll get them goals alright. Stoke rely on their system though, the wheel turning in unison, everyone doing their jobs. They couldn’t have a bad day and still win a game because they have a superstar to pull some sort of magic out of nowhere.
They also need a better goalkeeper than an ageing Shay Given to replace Begovic.
What will they get?
Jesus, if they could pull Xherdan Shaqiri out of the bag, it would give them a whole other dimension. It would make them more unpredictable, more of a frightening prospect and it would allow Mark Hughes to play tight in the knowledge that he has the firepower at the other end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1rFz-sBOiU
It depends how ambitious Stoke really are though. How much further can they push on from ninth place? Despite bringing in Given, they’ll probably play Jack Butland anyway and be happy with their mid-table lot for now.
Sunderland
What they have
Not an awful lot.
They have a Seb Larsson set piece, a Lee Cattermole yellow card and a lad named Jack Rodwell who’s supposed to come good any day now. They do have some experienced players lining the squad.
What they need
Despite bringing in Jermain Defoe last January and deploying Connor Wickham, Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham up top with Defoe – sometimes all at once – Sunderland’s top scorer managed just five goals last season. They need someone is going to find the net consistently for them, not in spurts, or they need someone to make it damn easy for this lot.
Younes Kaboul looks like he might add some much needed steel to their backline as well, but clips like this illustrate they are still perhaps a bit lacking in this area.
What will they get?
Ron Vlaar maybe. But it won’t make much of a difference.
Swansea City
What they have
A lovely little team.
What they need
Bony hasn’t been replaced and Michu’s departure is imminent, so they need someone to head up that lovely little team that has just about everything from pace and fluidity to creativity. They were the lowest scorers in the top half of the league last year having played some of the best football.
What will they get?
They’ve brought in Portuguese forward, Eder, who comes from Braga with a quiet enough reputation, and Andre Ayew on a free from Marseille. There’s talk of Loic Remy. Is that beyond the realms of possibility? I don’t think so.
Tottenham Hotspur
What they have
Balance. They have plenty of options with their starting team and they have more dimensions on the bench. They have a striker who scores goals too. Not many do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJdP-kl3pho
What they need
They conceded less than just four teams during last season’s league campaign and when Harry Kane’s goals dried up towards the end of the campaign, they struggled. They’ll be fighting on many fronts again next season, why don’t they find a partner for Kane? Is Toby Alderweireld the established centre-half they need?
What will they get?
James McCarthy. Not really what they need, but he’ll be a good player for them if they’re willing to go the full hog and prize him from Everton’s clutches.
Watford
What they have
Troy Deeney, Etienne Capoue, an ugly jersey and not an awful lot else.
New 15/16 home shirt for newly promoted Premiership side #watfordfc by Puma http://t.co/LrHoBurkx5 #Hornets pic.twitter.com/gUOUN7CvbF
— Football Kit News (@footballkitnews) May 22, 2015
What they need
A miracle.
And a new jersey.
What will they get?
Quique Flores is spending big, having already signed ten players to permanent contracts, and Watford are intent on raiding Serie A with Inter’s central midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanović and Genoa winger Diego Perotti in their sights .
West Bromwich Albion
What they have
Steel. Tony Pulis. Steel.
West Brom are the most disciplined side in the Premier League, full of strong players who can get up and down the pitch.
What they need
You would say that they need that eccentric flair player but not under Tony Pulis they don’t. James McClean is right up their street – strong, athletic, hard-working and still good on the ball.
What will they get?
They’re mad chasing after Charlie Austin and Matt Phillips who presumably come with a hefty wage demand at QPR. It is hard to picture West Brom getting both although the pair would fit into Pulis’s system with no interruption. Phillips should be their main target. He proved to be a deadly wide man for Rangers and he has all the attributes the manager is after.
Matt Phillips and… Peter Crouch. That will probably be their lot.
West Ham United
What they have
A very good front six. They were actually, genuinely talking about Champions League at a stage last season – in real life – and, whilst ridiculous, it was for a reason: they were attacking teams and they were beating them.
What they need
A stronger backbone and a replacement so that when Andy Carroll disappears for his customary months, there’s not a crisis declared.
What will they get?
Angelo Ogbonna has arrived from Juventus, Carl Jenkinson is back but, with a new manager at the helm and David Gold still knocking around, you can be damn sure that they’ll want to make a splash with another striker of some sort as well.
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